An upstate New York judge has agreed to be censured for failing to address $15,000 worth of identified funds left languishing in his court's account, some of which sat there for seven years after the New York State Comptroller raised the issue in an audit.

There is no evidence that James McDermott, a Chester Town Court justice who has been on the bench since 1998 and who is not an attorney, stole or lost the funds, according to a news release from the Commission on Judicial Conduct. Additionally, some of the surplus funds accumulated under previous judges.

But in 2011, the state comptroller reported that $10,000 in unidentified funds had accumulated in the judge's court bank account, and there were a number of errors and inaccuracies in its accounting records.

A follow-up audit conducted several years later showed little improvement. In 2017, the office reported that the amount of unidentified funds in the court bank account had grown by an additional $5,000, and that accounting procedures remained inadequate.

“Even where there is no evidence of theft or misappropriation, public confidence in the courts is undermined when official court funds languish, unidentified, rather than be remitted to appropriate state and local fiscal officers,” said Robert Tembeckjian, the commission's administrator, in a news release.

McDermott agreed to the censure, according to the release.

Cathleen Cenci and Eteena Tadjiogueu represented the commission in the matter.

John Silvestri, a Warren County attorney, appeared for McDermott. In a written statement, Silverstri said that the commission's determination “gives a very clear warning” that, regardless of their background or training, town justices like his client will be held to the same standard as certified public accountants in terms of how they handle financial records. 

“It is no defense that the town where the court is maintained failed to provide adequate training, computer software, accounting services, support staff or annual audits by qualified personnel to assist the court in maintaining its financial records,” Silvestri said.